It's all gloom-and-doom around Wrigleyville these days. Quotes from around the media tell the story:

Hawkins Hell

The word in the papers: game over. Chris De Luca from the Sun-Times provides some in-clubhouse instant psychoanalysis.

Maybe Hawkins could finally smile because he knows his personal torment -- which in turn has tormented Cubs fans -- was finally over. Manager Dusty Baker will utter the words today that not only will calm Hawkins' mind, but soothe the stomachs of Cubs fans.

LaTroy Hawkins will no longer be the Cubs' closer.

Greg Maddux, for his part, is lighter on the dramatics, heavier on the logic.

I think (Hawkins is) actually throwing pretty good; it's just that his results aren't what we'd like them to be. He's so good that he's only missing by a little instead of a lot.

When you miss by a lot, it ends up being a ball or a foul ball; when you miss by a little, they seem to hit it a little better.

Nomar Nuisance

Jim Hendry sounds more optimistic than most reports on Nomar's return.

I haven't gotten any indication from the medical people that ... it will be later than the All-Star break. I don't want to put a time frame on it because surgery is a possibility and it could lengthen or shorten it.

But Barry Larkin wants nuttin' to do with the Cubbies.

Larkin's agent, Eric Goldschmidt, told the Dayton Daily News that the longtime Cincinnati shortstop turned down the suggestion.

"Larkin is not going to play any more," Goldschmidt told the newspaper. "The Cubs were one of the teams [that] tried to sign him when the Reds let him go [after last season], but Barry wasn't interested."

Replacement Ruin

Dusty Baker on the new middle infield.

I've never lost both middle infielders at the same time in the first month of the season," Baker said. "But I'm so happy to have guys like Neifi Perez and Jerry Hairston. How often are you going to find two guys like that [on your bench]?"

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